Bangladesh Watchdog

urge parliamentary scrutiny of the state within a state of the Khakis, especially the dreaded spy agency (DGFI). The interference of the Khakis into state politics will once again jeopardize institutionalization of elective democracy, good governance and secularism. The rogues fear social justice activists, critics, politicians and journalists too - Joy Manush!

Monday, November 14, 2016

Myanmar for decades has been fighting a proxy war instigated
by Pakistan’s dreaded military intelligence ISI, since the spy-outfit began to
aid and abet Rohingya militants through neighbors.

Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s State Counselor,
has asked to understand the complexities of the issue surrounding problems in
Rakhine State, she said at the BIMSTEC meeting in Goa, India.

Referring to recent attack on Myanmar border police earlier
this month, she alleged the Rohingya militants, apparently recruited and led by
Islamists were trained in Pakistan.

On October 9, militants targeted three Myanmar border posts
along the border with Bangladesh and killed around nine soldiers.

Days after the attack, Myanmar President Htin Kyaw in a
statement blamed a little-known Rohingya militant group “Aqa Mul Mujahideen”
for the border outposts attack and pointed fingers at Pakistan, which did not
surprise Bangladesh or Indian security agencies.

However, both India and Bangladesh are said to be very
worried over the fresh armed conflict of Rohingya militants.

Senior officials in Indian intelligence, who have closely
followed the Rohingya armed militancy for decades told Mizzima, a Myanmar news
agency that the Aqa Mul Mujahideen (AMM) leaders were trained in Pakistan.

Pakistan's ISI's special operations cell coordinates the
activity of the different Rohingya groups, whose leadership is based in the
country.

Soon after General Ziaur Rahman grabbed power after
assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in August 1975, Pakistan spy
agency ISI negotiated funds from Libya and Saudi Arabia to organize clandestine
operations in the Rakhine State of Myanmar.

Since then ISI made significant presence in the region for
covert operation in Myanmar and Northeast States of India.

In latest development, the ISI operatives recruited Rohingya
youths in Rakhine State and trained them in jungle bases on the
Bangladesh-Myanmar border, said an official of the India security agency.

He said that AMM is a new armed group that originated from
the Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami-Arakan (HUJI-A) which enjoys close relations with
the Pakistan Taliban.

The HUJI-A chief is Abdus Qadoos Burmi, a Pakistani national
of Rohingya origin, who is claimed to have recruited Hafiz Tohar from Maungdaw
in Myanmar and arranged for his training in Pakistan.

Tohar is said to be heading the AMM and Qadoos Burmi is close
to the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba/Jamaatud Dawa (LeT/JuD), headed by Hafiz Sayeed.

Mizzima news agency earlier reported the LeT-JuD presence
especially that of its humanitarian front Fala-i-Insaniyat in Rohingya relief
camps in Rakhine State after the 2012 riots.

Qadoos Burmi developed the HUJI-A network in Bangladesh,
using the remote hill-forests on its border with Myanmar, where security
patrols by Bangladesh border security forces is limited.

After training promising recruits in Pakistan, they were
sent to set up recruitment and training bases on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border,
where the fresh Rohingya recruits were trained in combat, weapons and use of
explosives.

In the last several years, Bangladesh security forces zeroed
in on several clandestine militant bases, but those hideouts were found to have
been abandoned, after they were tipped by sources of the combing operations.

Bangladesh security agencies said that in July 2012,
Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD)/Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) started the Difa-e-Musalman-e-Arakan
conference in Pakistan to highlight the Rohingya cause.

"Subsequently, senior JuD operatives, Shahid Mahmood
and Nadeem Awan, visited, in August 2012, Bangladesh to establish direct
contacts with Rohingya elements based in camps along the Bangladesh-Myanmar
border," said a top Bangladesh intelligence official, speaking on
condition of anonymity.

Maulana Ustad Wazeer and Fareed Faizullah, both Pakistani
nationals of Rohingya origin, have been recruiting Rohingya “illegal migrants”
who fled from Bangladesh to Thailand or Malaysia.

Earlier, Bangladesh authorities arrested Maulana Shabeer
Ahmed, a Pakistan-based Rohingya operative in 2012 who revealed that he was
coordinating with Rohingya militants in Bangladesh on behalf of Jaish-e-Mohammed
(JeM).

"We cannot rule out that these Rohingya armed groups
may have close links with Bangladesh's homegrown jihadis and could share
hideouts, finances and sources of weapons supply," said a official of "Counter
Terrorism and Transnational Crime” unit.

The official who is privy to the issue, said Bangladesh and
Myanmar needed to cooperate further in conflict management.

Saleem Samad is an Ashoka Fellow (USA) for trendsetting journalism, he is an awarding winning investigative reporter. Twitter @saleemsamad

Monday, November 02, 2015

In protest of countries where journalists have been the
victims of unpunished crimes and to mark International Day to End Impunity for
Crimes against Journalists on Monday (2 November), media rights defender Reporters
Without Borders (RSF) has renamed a street in Paris, France after slain
American-Bangladesh blogger Avijit Roy.

In a comment in Facebook last evening Avijit Roy’s wife
Rafida Ahmed Bonya also a survivor of brutal attack thanked RSF for this honor
and stated that the honor goes to all the
writers/bloggers/publishers/journalists hacked, tortured or killed for
expressing their free thoughts.

RSF has renamed 12 Parisian streets after journalists
who have been murdered, tortured or disappeared in recent times. The renamed
streets are those with embassies of countries where journalists have been the
victims of unpunished crimes, a statement issued on by Benjamin Ismaïl, Head of
Asia Desk, RSF.

The embassy addresses have been changed to draw
attention to the failure of these countries to take action and to remind them
of their obligation to do whatever is needed to bring those responsible for
these crimes to justice.

RSF is using these 12 emblematic cases to highlight the
fact that crimes of violence against journalists usually go unpunished because
official investigations are inadequate or non-existent and because governments
are apathetic. More than 90 percent of crimes against journalist are never
solved.

Five new names were added to the list in 2015. They
include Tunisian journalists Sofiane Chourabi and Nadhir Ktari, who went
missing in Libya in September 2014, and Radio France Internationale journalists
Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, who were murdered in Kidal, in northern
Mali, on 2 November 2013.

Six weeks after their murder, the UN General Assembly
created International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists and
decided that it should me marked on the anniversary of their deaths.

“The cases of impunity that we are presenting are
terrible symbols of passivity or deliberate inaction on the part of certain
governments,” RSF’s secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.

“This International Day is an occasion for paying
homage to the victims and for reminding governments of their obligation to
protect journalists and to combat impunity. Those who target journalists will
one day be held to account for their actions.”

In order to combat impunity, Reporters Without Borders
is calling for the appointment of a special adviser to the UN secretary-general
on the safety of journalists.

There
is a demand of the government to punish those Bangladesh nationals who
allegedly laundered money and are also involved in tax dodging.

The
leader of the alliance Reazul Karim Chowdhury of EquityBD said that tax evasion
is predominant among the nationals who have opted for second-home in Malaysia,
Dubai, Canada, United States and other destinations.

Under
this situation, Chowdhury suggested formation of UN Tax Management Authority or
Commission to intervene in money laundering and tax evasion by multi-national
companies (MNCs).

The
activists deliberately did not mention the nationals who are engaged in money
laundering and tax evasion, but have indicated that business entrepreneurs,
politicians and even senior bureaucrats either have a second-home or are
contemplating to have a second-home soon.

Among
the business community, the majority are the importers, who make windfall
profits, are unaccounted, and untaxed.

On
the other hand, the number of exporter’s choice for second-home is far less
than the importers. The exporters, mostly garments and textile exporters apply
for immigration to Australia, New Zealand, Canada and United States, which
could be deemed as second-home.

The
flight of the capital and siphoning of national wealth are only possible when
there is lack of vigilance of monitoring of the income of the tax evaders, the
social activist remarked.

Tax
evasion obviously encourages spatial corruption of bureaucrats and politicians,
which is unfortunately never detected and unable to bring them under the tax
regime.

The
rights groups lauded the Bangladesh Bank’s stringent vigil against money-laundering,
but said that the central bank needs to do more to detect flight of capital
through informal money-laundering agents, the money-changers.

The
NGOs urged the central bank to bring the money-changers, engaged in ‘hundi’
under the scanner to check siphoning of capitals.

They
blamed the MNCs for dodging huge taxes on various activities, which has become
difficult of the state machineries to realise from the foreign companies.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Photo: A Bangladeshi policeman (L) looks on as government party
activists (R) wield sticks against activists of the Bangladesh National Party
in Dhaka on Jan. 5.(HASAN RAJA/AFP/Getty Images)

Widespread violence and strikes across Bangladesh will soon enter
their third month, extending a stranglehold on the economy that has cost the
country billions. The world's second largest ready-made garments exporter,
Bangladesh began the year courting investment to diversify its primarily
textile-oriented manufacturing base to include low-end electronics and
automobile assembly. But opposition political forces led by the Bangladesh
Nationalist Party began an extended campaign of social unrest following the
anniversary of last year's disputed Jan. 5 elections. The military, which has
been the historical mediator of Bangladesh's deep political divisions, has
repeatedly denied calls from the opposition to intervene and preside over fresh
elections. The country faces an extended battle of attrition between the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Awami League government. The unrest
challenges the growth the national economy and textile industry have
experienced in recent years.

Bangladesh is a poor, developing nation situated at the north of the
Bay of Bengal. It is almost entirely surrounded by India and shares a short
border with Myanmar. The country sits along the fertile floodplain of the
Ganges River Delta, and its geography has greatly affected its economic
development. Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries on
Earth, but the same swampy, fertile land that supports its growing population
has also made infrastructure development notoriously difficult, resulting in
one of the most bottlenecked transportation systems in the world.

Since the country gained independence from Pakistan in 1971,
Bangladesh's history has been marked by deep political divisions, frequent
military coups and decades of instability. This instability has helped keep the
country poor and wages low. These circumstances gave rise to a textile
manufacturing sector looking to take advantage of Bangladesh's favourable labour
costs and geographic position within the broader Indo-Pacific region. But
Bangladesh is still a victim of its weak political system and deep social
divisions between the nationalist and centre-right and conservative Islamist
elements of its society, resulting in the violent social unrest that has
gripped the country for much of the current year.

The months leading into 2015 saw the Awami League enter a cautious
dialogue with the opposition led by the arch rival Bangladesh National Party.
Western capitals — including Washington and several EU members — that had
decried the January 2014 elections and the Awami League's violent suppression
of rival political demonstrations used their economic support to persuade
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government to seek a compromise.
This support is necessary for Bangladesh's economy; the European Union and
United States are two of the largest markets for the country's ready-made
garment exports. Especially concerning for Dhaka was the lifting of
preferential trade conditions as a result of the controversy surrounding the
2014 elections. A primary motivator that influenced Hasina's government to
negotiate with the Bangladesh National Party was Washington's decision to
rescind Dhaka's Generalized System of Preferences status and EU threats to do
the same.

The Awami League's cautious re-engagement with the Bangladesh
National Party and the potential for a more politically and socially stable
Bangladesh did not just offer benefits for the country's textile and garment
industry. New Delhi was one of the few backers of the Awami League government
in 2014. The closer ties between India and Bangladesh led to power transmission
deals and the settlement of a long-lived maritime boundary dispute — one that
expanded Dhaka's claims to a section of the Bay of Bengal, which may hold
untapped deposits of natural gas, a significant boon to the electricity-starved
economy. Dhaka also began expanding special economic zones along the coastal
regions, wooing Chinese and Japanese investors drawn to Bangladesh's low wages
in addition to its loose safety and environmental standards.

However, buoyed by rising international interest, Hasina's Awami
League offered only token concessions to the opposition, which is led by the
Bangladesh National Party's Begum Khaleda Zia. Noting the strong economic
drivers behind the Awami League's outreach, the opposition coalition, which
includes Islamist organization Jamaat-e-Islami, remained steadfast in its call
for fresh elections overseen by a neutral caretaker Cabinet and its demand that
Hasina step down as prime minister. The impasse carried over into 2015, with
the opposition striking directly at the government's greatest vulnerability:
the national economy and Bangladesh's highly vulnerable infrastructure system.

The Economic Impact of Unrest

Bangladesh's opposition parties, led by the right-of-centre
Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its traditional Islamist partner
Jamaat-e-Islami, launched a series of strikes, blockades and violent clashes
coinciding with the first anniversary of the Jan. 5, 2014, national elections.
Last year's polls represented a significant shift in Bangladesh's
post-independence history. The incumbent centre-left Awami League sidelined the
opposition through a series of constitutional changes, which include removing
the military's ability to legally intervene in the political system, and by
prosecuting Jamaat-e-Islami's leaders. The Bangladesh National Party and its
political allies boycotted the elections, allowing the Awami League to claim a
landslide victory despite criticism from the international community.

Bangladeshi Unrest and the Textiles Industry

Bangladesh's population of more than 150 million people relies on a
congested and limited network of rail, road and ferry ways to move goods and
people throughout the country. Groups of protesters burning tires and piles of
trash have formed blockades across the country, effectively halting the
movement of goods and people, often for days at a time. The economic impact can
be seen everywhere. Crops have rotted in the field, garment factories have
closed because of lost contracts and unemployment is rising as workers return
from the cities to rural villages unable to find work. Domestic estimates place
the economic cost of the unrest of the past three months at nearly $10 billion,
a staggering sum given that Bangladesh's GDP is $150 billion.

Neither Hasina nor Zia have shown a willingness to negotiate.
Traditionally, the military has been the arbiter in Bangladesh's often-chaotic
political disputes, but the military leadership wants to avoid getting mired in
the conflict for now because it could risk triggering greater unrest and
violence. Zia's current strategy is to either force Hasina to capitulate or
push the military to act, but the Awami League and the military are not likely
to change their positions without a significant increase in violence and
unrest.

Moreover, the military might not be the deciding factor in
Bangladesh's current episode of unrest. During the past decade, professional
organizations representing textile bosses have gained influence. Textiles and
ready-made garments represent a significant portion of Bangladesh's economic
activity, accounting for more than 60 percent of the country's industrial labor
force and more than 80 percent of its annual exports by value. They are Dhaka's
primary source of foreign currency revenue, which helps to lessen its negative
trade balance. (Bangladesh still imports much of the basic resources needed for
its garments trade, such as cotton, yarn and cloth, in addition to foodstuffs
and fuel.)

Leaders of the three largest trade associations — the Bangladesh
Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Knitwear
Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Bangladesh Textile Mills
Association — have enjoyed close ties to the Awami League and the Bangladesh
National Party governments. Both parties have been careful to cultivate these
relationships. But the Awami League now faces rising demands from the
associations regarding better tax benefits, looser wage and safety
restrictions, and subsidized electricity and fuel to offset losses from unrest.
The associations also met with the U.S. ambassador to Bangladesh on March 5 to
aid efforts by foreign governments and corporations to appeal to economic
partners, rather than political ones, to pressure the government and the opposition
to resume peaceful negotiations.

Economic Pressure Unlikely to Force a Deal

Bangladesh's current bout of political instability and violence is
likely to continue during the months ahead. Political polarization, especially
between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's camp and the Awami League
government, will remain as both sides extend their brinksmanship. Hasina seeks
to exhaust opposition supporters, relying on arrests, crackdowns and threats of
legal action against Bangladesh National Party and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders. The
Bangladesh National Party hopes to make the economic pain unbearable, though it
risks alienating the business community and Western governments as well; U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry has repeatedly asked the opposition to stop
resorting to violence, even as he thanked the current Awami League government
for its help in combating terrorism in late February. This is where the Awami
League's slight advantage over the opposition become apparent, at least in its
own eyes. The ruling government's stronger ties to neighbouring India, better
counter-terrorism record and traditionally strong links to labour unions have
all contributed to its decision to maintain its absolutist stance.

Recent statistics from the Bangladeshi government's Export Promotion
Bureau show that garment exports are still rising, with year-on-year growth of
7.8 percent in January and 6 percent in February. While industry associations
have tracked a nearly 50 percent decline in short-term orders from
international companies — to the benefit of competing industries in Vietnam,
Cambodia and Laos — Bangladesh's textile and ready-made garment industries have
shown a remarkable resilience, even despite the political uncertainties of the
past two years. The military remains cautious about triggering a widespread
backlash against a coup and agitating rising Islamist tendencies. But with the
economy still growing and support declining with every Bangladesh National
Party call for strikes and shutdowns, there is not enough incentive for the
military to get involved in a difficult and chaotic political competition it
has not been able to resolve in the past 40 years. With the military repeatedly
announcing that it has no plans to end the current impasse and the Awami League
choosing to consolidate its power at the cost of delaying investment and
economic revitalization, Bangladesh sees no quick or easy exit from
instability.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

All set for Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Bangladesh, which usher hopes
of taking the India-Bangladesh relations at new height, when her party is
sailing through troubled waters.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata is arriving on an official visit
to Dhaka during the observance of Ekushey February and opening of the
International Mother Language Institute building at Kakrail on Basha Dibash
(February 21).

Banerjee’s visit has acquired major significance especially against
the backdrop of her resistance to sign the treaties back in 2011, when then
Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh had to back off at the last minute due to
her position.

Though her government has softened its stand against the LBA, not
much progress has been made in the water sharing agreement, which has become a
major point of conflict between the two neighbouring countries.

The All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader would be welcomed with
open arms, but the Foreign Office was uncomfortable after media reports of
arrival of controversial legislator Ahmed Hassan Imran.

A top Foreign Office official confirmed that the government has
received the final and full list of entourage of Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Dhaka
on February 19. The list does not have Imran’s name.

Diplomats in Bangladesh have been saying that it would not be right
if Imran visited their country. The government have expressed reservations
about Imran coming to Bangladesh, says the official.

Imran is a TMC lawmaker who was appointed to the Rajya Sabha. His
appointment last year had created uproar as it came just after Indian security
agencies dossier had flagged him for being sympathetic of the dreaded
Jamaat-e-Islami and also blamed to destabilise the Awami League government.

During her visit to the Bangladesh capital, Mamata is expected to
meet President Mohammad Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and
discuss key treaties like the Teesta water sharing agreement and the Land
Boundary Agreement (LBA) between the two neighbouring countries.

During his lasts visit to Kolkata Bangladesh Finance Minister A.M.
Abdul Muhith had hoped that Banerjee would visit the country soon.

However, Dhaka and New Delhi are both anxious for a positive response
during her visit, during which both the countries hope to solve the difference
in the two treaties that have soured their relationship in the recent past.

Meanwhile, Mamata seem in trouble and she remarked on Monday that
her party is strong and united, amidst reports of TMC general secretary Mukul
Roy forming a new political outfit.

Later Mukul Roy was left in the cold by Banerjee in an
organisational shake-up that took place.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party lawmaker has
dared her to punish him for writing to the central government directly about
corruption in his constituency.

The legislator has been in the spotlight for alleging that
"extortionists in the Trinamool are not allowing good people to
work."

On the other hand, Mamata’s Bangladesh visit has caught the ire of
controversial writer Taslima Nasreen, who has alleged that she was shielding
Muslim radicals in her state.

Saleem
Samad, is an Ashoka Fellow for journalism and an award winning
investigative reporter. He has worked as news reporter
for Time magazine and presently is news correspondent for The Daily Observer,
Paris based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and regular contributor for
prestigious international magazine India Today.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

On December 18, 2014, the International Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT-2)
indicted Forkan Mallik, an alleged Razakar (a paramilitary force organized by
the Pakistan Army) commander from Mirzaganj sub-District in Patuakhali
District, for his involvement in crimes against humanity during the Liberation
War of 1971. The tribunal framed five charges against Forkan, a supporter of
the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

On November 24, 2014, ICT-1 awarded the death penalty to Mobarak
Hossain aka Mobarak Ali (64), former rukon (union member) of the
Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and commander of the Razakar force. Mobarak was indicted
on April 23, 2013, on five specific incidents of murder, abduction,
confinement, torture and loot.

On November 13, 2014, ICT-1 sentenced Zahid Hossain Khokon alias
Khokon (70), vice-president of BNP's Nagarkanda unit and a Razakar commander of
Faridpur District, to death in absentia. Khokon was indicted on October 9,
2013, on 11 charges, including genocide, torture, abduction and confinement
during the Liberation War. He is absconding and, while Bangladeshi authorities
say they have no information regarding his whereabouts, reports suggest that he
may be residing in Sweden with his elder son and daughter.

The War Crimes (WC) Trials began on March 25, 2010, and through
2014, the two ICTs indicted nine persons and delivered four verdicts. Thus far,
the ICTs have indicted 25 leaders, including 13 from JeI, five from Muslim
League (ML), four from BNP, two from Jatiya Party (JP) and one Nizam-e-Islami
leader. Verdicts against 14 of them have already been delivered – 12 were
awarded death sentence while the remaining two received life sentences. One of
the 12 who received the death sentence has already been executed, while the
remaining 11 death penalties are yet to be executed. The two persons who were
awarded life sentences have already died serving their sentence. They were JeI
Ameer (Chief) Ghulam Azam (91), who died on October 23, 2014; and former BNP
minister Abdul Alim (83), who died on August 30, 2014.

Sheikh Hasina Wajed’s Awami League (AL)-led Government, which
retained power winning the 10th General Elections held on January 5, 2014 in
the face of a comprehensive Opposition boycott, has enormously consolidated its
secular commitments and kept its promise to punish the perpetrators of the 1971
genocide. By bringing the war crimes' perpetrators to justice, Dhaka has also
succeeded in minimizing the threat of Islamist extremists within the country,
both because they have become conscious of the clear intent of the incumbent
Government, and because many of their top leaders are among those arraigned or
convicted for the War Crimes.

The Government also remained determined in its approach to dealing
with JeI, the country's largest right-wing party and main Islamist extremist
troublemaker. Law Minister Anisul Huq, speaking at Dhaka city on December 7,
2014, announced, "The Draft Bill to ban JeI will be placed in the Cabinet
this month and it is expected to be passed in the first session of the
Parliament in 2015." Notably, in a landmark ruling, the Dhaka High Court,
on August 1, 2013, had declared the registration of JeI as a political party,
illegal. A three-member Special Bench, including Justice M. Moazzam Husain,
Justice M. Enayetur Rahim and Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque, passed the judgment,
accepting a writ petition challenging the legality of JeI's registration as a
political party.

Further, in a major blow to JeI, Election Commissioner Shah Nawaz,
on November 7, 2013, declared that the party could not participate in the
General Elections of January 2014, in line with the High Court order. JeI was,
of course, one of the Opposition parties that boycotted the Election.

Significantly, Security Force (SF) personnel arrested at least 1,757
cadres of JeI and Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the student wing of JeI, through
2014, in addition to 4,038 such arrests in 2013.

Nevertheless, disruptive elements led by the BNP-JeI-ICS combine,
continued to engage in violent activities through 2014. According to partial
data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), a total of 60 people,
including 29 civilians, nine SF personnel and 22 extremists, were killed in
incidents related to Islamist extremism in 2014 (data till December 21), in
addition to 379 persons, including 228 civilians, 18 SF personnel and 133
extremists, killed in 2013.

As the Government continued with its policy of checking the growth
of Islamist extremist forces led by the BNP-JeI-ICS combine, it deprived the
Islamist terrorist formations of any opportunity to revive their activities
within the country, despite sustained efforts, through 2014. The Rapid Action
Battalion (RAB) arrested JMB chief coordinator Abdun Noor and four of his close
aides from the Sadar Sub-District Railway Station of Sirajganj District, on
October 31, 2014, and recovered 49 detonators, 26 electronic detonators, four
time bombs, 155 different kinds of circuits, 55 jihadi books, and a power
regulator. During preliminary interrogations, the JMB operatives confessed that
they were planning to carry out large-scale bomb attacks across the country,
particularly in Dhaka city.

In a disturbing development, the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka
Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested two cadres of the Ansarul Bangla Team (ABT),
Tanjil Hossain Babu (26), who had some technological expertise, and Muhamad
Golam Maula Mohan (25), a Computer Sciences and Engineering graduate, along
with a plastic frame of a drone, electronic devices and some books on jihad,
from Dhaka city's Jatrabari area on December 16, 2014. After their
interrogation, Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam of DB claimed, "They
reached the final stages of making the drone after a six-month planning and
research. Once completed, the drone could be flown up to around 25th floor of a
building to launch an attack." ABT is an al Qaeda inspired terrorist
formation that crystallized in 2013 from the remnants of the
Jamaat-ul-Muslimeen.

Nevertheless, under the sustained pressure exerted by Security
Forces, the country did not record a single major terrorist incident (resulting
in three or more fatalities) by any Islamist terror outfit through 2014. In
fact, only one violent incident involving such groups was reported through the
year. On February 23, 2014, a Police Constable was killed and another two
Policemen were injured, as an armed gang of 10 to 15 unidentified terrorists
ambushed a prison van that was carrying three convicted Jama'at-ul-Mujahideen
Bangladesh (JMB) terrorists in the Trishal Sub-District of Mymensingh District.
All the three convicts managed to escape during the ambush. Though Police
arrested one of them soon after, the whereabouts of the other two remain
unknown.

On the other hand, a total of 96 terrorists were arrested through
2014, adding to the 163 detained in 2013. Of these 96, 43 belonged to JMB, 25
to Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT), 12 to Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B),
six to Kalamaye Jamaat, five to ABT, three to Hizb-ut-Towhid (HT), and one each
to Kalema Dawat and Islamic State.

Dhaka has also continued its campaign against an incipient Left Wing
Extremist (LWE) movement in a somewhat one-sided battle. Through 2014, 16 LWE
cadres were killed - 11 of the Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP), three of
the Purbo Banglar Sarbahara Party (PBSP), one of the Biplobi Communist Party
(BCP), and one unidentified. No civilian or SF fatality took place in
LWE-linked violence through 2014. In 2013, a total of 25 fatalities were
connected to LWE violence, including four civilians and 21 militants.

The nation, however, continues to face a significant threat from
Islamist extremism. India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA), investigating
the October 2, 2014, accidental blasts at Burdwan in West Bengal, uncovered a
plot by JMB to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed and BNP
Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia.

According to revelations made by arrested accused in the case, JMB
was planning to establish an 'Islamic state' in Bangladesh through armed
struggle. The projected 'Islamic state' was also intended to incorporate the
Districts of Murshidabad, Nadia, and Malda in West Bengal. Referring to the
development, Bangladesh's National and Security Intelligence (NSI) Director
General, Mohammad Shamsul Haque, observed, on December 15, 2014,

We have largely neutralized radical groups like the JMB or HuJI-B,
but now they seem to have found sanctuaries across the border. If we think we
have neutralized a group and sit easy, it is (a) big mistake. There is no room
for complacency. We need to closely monitor their activities even if a few
terrorists are left in the fray. Because they may well set up bases across the
border, make fresh recruitment, acquire weapons and plan attacks.

Further, on September 5, 2014, Asim Umar, the leader of the newly
formed al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) based in Pakistan, incited
Muslims to engage in the global jihad (holy war) and expressed his group’s
determination to extend the fighting from Pakistan to Bangladesh, Myanmar and
India. Further, a video released on November 29, 2014, and attributed to the
'Bangladesh division' of AQIS, encouraged Bangladeshi Muslims to come to the
jihadi battlefield and included glimpses of a base of fighters in the
Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

Threats from the Islamic State (IS, formerly the Islamic State of
Iraq and al Sham, ISIS) are also very much a reality. On September 29, 2014, a
24-year-old British citizen was arrested in Dhaka city on suspicion of
recruiting people to fight alongside IS cadres in Syria. When asked about Bangladesh’s
position on the IS and the Syrian crisis, Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali
disclosed, on September 30, 2014, “We have not heard about any presence of the
[ISIS] group, but a British citizen of Bangladeshi origin was arrested.”

Bangladesh’s achievements on the counter-terrorism and internal
security fronts through 2014 have been remarkable. Further, over the last few
years, the WC Trials have also progressed quite well. A note of caution,
nevertheless, remains to be sounded, as the residual capacities of subversive
and extremist elements, prominently including JeI-ICS, are still significant,
and their alliance with BNP remains sound. Further, surviving fragments of a
range of other outfits, including JMB, HuT, HT, HuJI and ABT, also have a
potential for regrouping and fomenting violence. In the unstable environment of
South Asia and the wider Asian region, there is little space for complacence.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Identifying and neutralising the sources of terrorist funding have become global concerns. The United States' Ambassador to Bangladesh, Dan W. Mozena, on December 10, 2014, asserted, "The terrorists who seek to destroy our communities of peace, diversity and tolerance have developed many avenues for generating money to fuel their vast machines of death...One source of financing terrorism and violent extremism is charity, the vast network of charitable organisations thrives across South Asia and we must fight back against it."

Echoing similar concerns, Bangladesh Law Minister Anisul Huq stated, as reported on December 10, 2014, that millions of dollars were collected every year in the name of benevolence and charitable activities but a portion of it, either by design or exploitation of organisational structure, is diverted to fund acts of terrorism. The fight against terrorism should be a global and collaborative effort so that charitable and Non-Government Organisation (NGO) activities do no turn into support for terrorism, he added.

Bangladesh has a history of involvement in money-laundering and terrorist financing cases. Interestingly, the Bangladesh Cabinet, on December 1, 2014, approved the draft of the much awaited Foreign Contributions (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Act, 2014, intended to regulate the flow of foreign aid being channelled to non-profit groups. The approval was given in the weekly meeting of the Cabinet held at the Bangladesh Secretariat, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed in the Chair. The proposed draft law is intended to ensure transparency, accountability, proper inspection, monitoring, evaluation and appropriate use of foreign funds by NGOs.

Cabinet Secretary M. Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan subsequently stated, "No NGO will be able to run its activities without taking registration from the NGO Affairs Bureau. No registration is required in case of individuals, but approval has to be taken from the Bureau... The proposed law has also a provision for punishment, cancellation of registration and imposition of fines for violating the law".

The Act is supposed to be a comprehensive and wide ranging legal instrument to provide support and regulation of NGO activities. It has been prepared by integrating two previous legal instruments: The Foreign Donations Voluntary Activities Regulation Ordinance, 1978; and the Foreign Contributions Regulation Ordinance, 1982.

December 6, 2014, reports indicated that Bangladesh Bank, the country's central bank, had also asked commercial banks to take effective measures under the anti-money laundering and anti-terror financing laws to check illegal fund transfer and associated pecuniary offences. Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman noted that money-laundering offences hindered the socio-economic development of the country: "Such risk will increase gradually if money laundering is not prevented effectively... Recently, different banks have been fined due to non-compliance with the KYC provisions."

The previous Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012 and Anti Terrorism Amendment Act, 2013 also sought to regularise financial activities. The 2013 Act, provides capital punishment as highest penalty for terrorism and subversive activities. Further, it allowed the courts to accept videos, still photographs, and audio clips used in facebook, twitter, skype and other social media, as evidence. In December 2014, eight banks in Bangladesh were fined for not keeping client affidavits and not informing authorities of suspicious transactions in time. The banks include: Islami Bank, Premier Bank Limited, BRAC Bank, Mercantile Bank, Dutch-Bangla Bank, Southeast Bank, Uttara Bank and Bangladesh Investment Finance Corporation. They were slapped with fines ranging from Tk 200,000 to Tk 2 million under the law to prevent money laundering, Mohammad Mahfuzur Rahman, Deputy Head of the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) disclosed.

In order to extract information on money laundering by various elements, the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), in the month of November 2014, sent Mutual Legal Assistance Requests (MLAR) to 14 countries, for information regarding alleged money laundering by the country's businessmen, politicians, industrialist, and government officials. However, ACC Secretary M. Maksudul Hasan Khan did not disclose the names of the 14 countries and the suspected money launderers.

Bangladesh has long been plagued by illicit financial transfers from both national and international sources. It is suspected that militants regularly tap into these illegal money flows to fund their operations. Money laundering is also a prime way of generating funds. Remittances from expatriate Bangladeshis working in the Middle East, the United Kingdom and elsewhere, are a further area of concern. There is a broad consensus that such techniques are used by militant organisations. One of the most significant links to funding from the Diaspora was uncovered in March 2009, when a madrasa (Islamic seminary) in Bhola District in southern Bangladesh was raided by an anti-terrorist unit, which seized 10 firearms, 2,500 rounds of ammunition and radical Islamic literature. Subsequent investigations revealed that the madrasa was funded by the British-registered charity Green Crescent.

Further, the Saudi Arabia-based al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, banned internationally by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1267, along with other charities from the Middle East, is infamous for financing terrorism in Bangladesh. NGOs and charities, such as the Kuwait-based Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) and the Saudi Arabian Hayatul Igachha (HI), have also been linked to Islamist extremism in the country.

The Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) reportedly handled accounts of various Wahhabi organisations, that propagate radical Islam in the country. In 2011, the Bangladeshi Home Ministry intelligence revealed that eight per cent of the Bank's profits were diverted to support jihad in Bangladesh. Another sharia bank, Social Islami Bank, worked with HSBC. In 2011, the US Senate implicated HSBC for disregarding evidence of terror financing at the Social Islami Bank.

More recently in February 2014, UNSC provided definite information that al Qaeda network was active in Bangladesh. The UN has indicated that two NGOs, Global Relief Foundation and al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, working in Bangladesh, were involved with al Qaeda.

In a positive initiative, the Shiekh Hasina-led Government is not only trying to monitor and regulate NGO-related funding channels and activities, but, at the same time, is also looking into the bigger picture of financial fraud and terror connections. The existence of financial networks related to the infrastructure of terrorism in Bangladesh constitute a serious threat not only to the country itself, but to the stability of the wider region as well.